What is Phonophoresis?

Phonophoresis is the use of ultrasound to enhance the delivery of topically
applied drugs. Effectively, medicines contained within or under the ultrasound
gel are pushed by the sound waves of the ultrasound and driven deep below the
skin. Phonophoretically administered medications can penetrate the body much
deeper than those massaged by hand over the surface of the skin.

Some medications can be delivered phonophoretically. The process is dependant on
many, many factors. For example, the type of drug and its molecule size are
critical. The drug molecule has to be just the right size to be picked up by the
ultrasound waves and the right size to pass through the body tissue. As well,
the medicinal molecule can’t react with the ultrasound gel. It must also be able
to survive the thermal and vibrational effects of the ultrasound. The delivery
of medications via ultrasound is truly a science unto its own.

The duration of the treatment, and the need to specifically adhere to a specific
dose size is also a large consideration. Obviously, the longer ultrasound is
used over a topical phonophoretic drug, the more the medication is delivered and
the deeper it goes. Drugs that require very exact dosing, like insulin for
example, cannot be controlled accurately enough to be delivered via
Phonophoresis. Many natural analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs though are
excellent candidates for phonophoretic application.

One of the greatest benefits to delivering medications via phonophoresis is that
the medication can be delivered locally to a desired area. Oral pain killers and
anti-inflammatory drugs are introduced to the entire body in equal amounts. Even
if you only need pain relief in your tennis elbow or an anti-inflammatory in
your swollen bursa, with oral medications you end up drugging your entire body –
your brain, your heart, your lungs even if they might not need the drug. With
phonophoresis, the part of the body that receives the medication is the part of
your body that needs it.

Conditions Treated With Phonophoresis: